Education Readings
By Allan Alach
Editorial
The new term is underway we wonder how many
schools, now that the National Standards have gone, have begun the vital
transformation to place the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum centre stage and, as
part of this shift, have re-imagined literacy and numeracy as ‘foundation
skills’ vital to enable student inquiry and creativity? As one commentator wryly said about
past practice ‘the
evil twins literacy and numeracy have gobbled up the
whole curriculum’. The future is about developing students’ gifts and talents
in tandem with the learning dispositions to be lifelong learners. As Sir Ken
Robinson has said ‘creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy’ and
this is echoed by educator Guy Claxton who says ‘learnacy is more important
than literacy and numeracy’. Are schools listening?
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| Guy Claxton - 'Learnacy' |
Bruce Hammonds and I collect article to share to encourage a creative approach to education. Take a quick look - some might appeal to you. Please feel free to share with anyone you might think interested.
Stop Calling Them Soft Skills; they’re Essential Skills
‘We need to call them what they really are: essential skills; skills
that are absolutely necessary to
What Makes a Good School Culture?
‘Most principals have an instinctive awareness that organizational
culture is a key element of school success. They might say their school has a “good
culture” when teachers are expressing a shared vision and students are
succeeding — or that they need to “work on school culture” when several
teachers resign or student discipline rates rise.But like many organizational
leaders, principals may get stymied when they actually try to describe the
elements that create a positive culture.’
What will education in Australia look like in 2019?
‘The start of a new school year is a time of excitement and
curiosity as new students, parents and
Big Picture Learning
Big Picture Learning was established in 1995 with the sole mission
of putting students directly at the center of their own learning. BPL
co-founders Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor merged their thirty years of
experience as teachers and principals and their distinct national reputations
to launch this new innovation in education. With an intention to demonstrate
that schooling and education can and should be radically changed, Big Picture
Learning was born.’
Teacher Tom’s School
‘I strive for Woodland Park to be a place where children are as free
as possible to create, explore, study, and play with as little adult judgement
as possible. I am not there to critique their work or to teach them tricks, but
rather to be the resident expert on safety, schedules, and courtesy, while
providing the time and space for children to ask and answer their own questions
about their world.’
Tomorrows Schools Review proposals will make schools better, says
John O'Neill
‘Right now, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address
systemic barriers to student success. The Independent Taskforce to Review
Tomorrow's Schools recently published its report, "Our Schooling Futures:
Stronger Together – Whiria
Ngā Kura Tūātinitini". We believe that its more
than 30 recommendations will transform our schooling system, and that we will
be stronger together as a consequence.’
Rediscovering Our Nature Instinct
The most powerful parts of “The Nature Instinct”
are its many examples of how to correct our present-day nature deficit. By
undertaking the exercises he describes — using Orion to tell direction and
time, creating maps from the wind, or identifying trees by their sounds — the
book “gently” hammers our brains “into a new pattern of thought,”
Everyone Can Learn Mathematics to High Levels: The Evidence from
Neuroscience that Should Change our Teaching
Very important article by Jo Boaler:
‘For it is only when we combine positive growth messages with a
multi-dimensional approach to teaching, learning, and thinking, that we will
liberate our students from fixed ideas, and from math anxiety, and set them
free to learn and enjoy mathematics.’
#3quotes from Vygotsky
Steve Wheeler:
‘Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky is revered as a notable pioneer
of research into learning and cognitive development. Although his writings were
suppressed in the West for several decades, they eventually emerged in the 70s,
representative of a progressive view of constructivism, in which the social was
seen as a major influence on learning.’
Extra arts education boosts students’ writing scores — and their
compassion, big new study finds
‘It’s just the latest study to find that giving students more access
to the arts offers measurable benefits. And adding time for dance, theater, or
visual arts isn’t at odds with traditional measures of academic success,
according to the research — which amounts to one of the largest gold-standard
studies on arts education ever conducted.'
From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:
Advice from David Perkins to make learning Whole – how to integrate
skills into inquiry.
‘The problem Perkins says is there is too much problem solving (
teachers problems ) and not enough problem finding - or figuring out often
'messy' open ended investigations. 'Playing the whole game' is the solution
resulting in some sort of inquiry or performance. Student are withdrawn individually or in groups to be given necessary help to return to the game of learning..’
Imp
‘Drawing is an ideal way to break through habitual ways of thinking.
All too often our students see but they do not look. Observational drawing has
long been an important means for some teachers to develop deeper consciousness
in students - to assist students see through their habitual ways of seeing and
to develop new awareness.’
Interactive teaching- the Learning in Science Project (LISP)
‘If we really believe students 'construct' their own 'meanings' from
any experience then teachers need to value the 'prior ideas' , questions and
theories their students have. Only then can they set about to challenge and
help students change what they know and can do. Some of the best research in
this process was completed in NZ in the 80s by researchers at Waikato
University but has been, more or less, ignored by those in authority since.’
Organising the school day for 21st Century Teaching - the Craft of
Teaching
‘Ideally classroom organisation should be based on helping students
achieve in depth quality learning across the curriculum amplifying or
uncovering, every student’s unique gifts and talents to ensure they have the
skills to become lifelong learners.A close look at the daily classroom
organisation/timetable is a sure way to get an idea of what is seen as
important by the teacher – or the school.’
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| Valuing the individual differences and talents of all learner |
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